Thank You for a Great WinterFest!

Thank You for a Great WinterFest!

Thank you to the many individuals, businesses and organizations who made this year’s museum Ely Winter Festival events a smashing success! Without the support of our local community and our larger, “Dorothy Community” we would not have been able to provide the winter-time events we do. Here is a snap-shot of how the Dorothy Molter Museum made an impact during the Ely Winter Festival:

Museum Exploration in Winter

Visitors to the museum were able to literally feel what is was like to live on the Isle of Pines in the dead of a northern Minnesota winter. They immersed themselves in the idea of chopping wood for warmth, chipping through 3-4 feet of lake ice for fresh water and braving a -30°F windchill for a trip to the privvy.

VCC Students

Whirlwind!

Guests who stopped by the museum on Saturday, February 4 were treated to free admission (all day) and the opportunity to learn about winter survival, travel, ice fishing and bird watching. Students from the Vermilion Community College’s Wilderness & Parks Management program researched and developed interpretive stations for guests to stop by and try out snowshoeing, learn how to build a fire and make an upcycled bird feeder. Our in-house ice fishing expert, Bob, shared his wealth of knowledge (and equipment) on ice fishing with a portable ice house demo. Over 100 visitors took part in Whirlwind! and we had just enough cookies to go around!

2nd Annual Bird Feeder Design Contest

This year’s entries met the bar that was set last year and upped it a little more. Learn more about this contest and the winners here.

Fundraising Dinner Program

Annual Fundraising Dinner

We had an amazing gathering of wonderful people at this year’s dinner, which was themed SledTalks (talk about snowmobiling up to Dorothy’s). About 100 attendees enjoyed a delicious meal by the Grand Ely Lodge and many of them walked away with silent auction “winnings” that were donated by individuals and businesses located in the Ely Area, Two Harbors, Grand Marais, Roseau (Polaris of course!) and the Twin Cities (see a full list below). Speakers Mike B. and Peg R. graciously shared precious memories of their time spent with Dorothy during the winter as well as a few humorous “incidents.” This event is critical to the ability of the museum to operate during the winter in preparation for our summer visitor season. Without it, we couldn’t do our jobs – THANK YOU!

Riders getting ready to set out

Dorothy Molter Memorial Snowmobile Ride

In honor of the 30th anniversary of Dorothy’s passing and the memorial snowmobile ride on January 10, 1987, the museum collaborated with the Ely Igloo Snowmobile Club to host a memorial ride on Saturday, February 11. Although the group didn’t have permission to ride up to Dorothy’s Isle of Pines in the BWCAW, the ride was reminiscent of going up to Knife Lake – in both the scenery and camaraderie. Thank you to Mike, Andy, David and Dan who helped guide this special trip.